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3 free agents who left the Mets in their prime
Knowing when to walk away from a free agent is important for a team’s success. After the 2022 season, the New York Mets had some major decisions when it came to who they would or wouldn’t retain. Big names like Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Diaz stayed while Jacob deGrom landed elsewhere.
When it comes to free agency, a front office can only do so much to keep a player. There are instances where the school district in Denver is too good for a free agent like Mike Hampton to want to stay in Queens.
The Mets were right to let a couple of popular free agents in the past walk away. Three other times they were wrong to let these guys leave even if there was little chance of convincing them to stay.
1) NY Mets let free agent Daniel Murphy walk away in his prime
This was a big one. Maybe the prime example, although there is another on this list of a recent free agent the Mets let walk away only to do some spectacular work in another city. Fresh off of his terrific 2015 postseason run, Daniel Murphy headed into the free agent pool and landed with the rival Washington Nationals.
The contract was quite modest at three years and $37.5 million. The Mets would replace him with Neil Walker via trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Walker was a good second baseman. Murphy, however, would dominate.
Murphy won back-to-back Silver Sluggers in 2016 and 2017. He led the league in doubles both years. His 2016 season was especially amazing. It included career-highs in doubles (47), home runs (25), and RBI (104). His .347/.390/.595 slash line helped his case in the MVP race even further. Murphy finished second. It was Kris Bryant who would win the award.
Keeping Murphy may not have made enough of a difference for the Mets against Madison Bumgarner in the Wild Card Game. You never know, though. In his one trip to the playoffs with New York, he proved there were some Mr. October genetics in his bloodline.
2) NY Mets let free agent Zack Wheeler walk away in his prime
An even more present tense free agent the Mets walked away from, Zack Wheeler left the team after the 2019 season to also join a rival ball club. The five-year contract worth $118 million was a lot more than what it would’ve taken to keep Murphy around. Even with a few years in between, MLB salaries didn’t go up that much.
The Phillies were willing to take a chance on Wheeler. Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen regularly made it known that acquiring Marcus Stroman at the 2019 trade deadline was in preparation for letting Wheeler go. Stroman would give them only one full quality season in 2021. It came nowhere close to matching what Wheeler did for Philadelphia.
Wheeler followed the Murphy path by finishing second in the Cy Young race in 2021. He was 14-10 with a 2.78 ERA while leading the league in complete games, shutouts, innings, and strikeouts. He has finally turned into the special pitcher the Mets thought they were getting when they traded Carlos Beltran to the San Francisco Giants for him.
In parts of five seasons in New York, we only saw flashes of what Wheeler could become. At 44-38 with a 3.77 ERA, it’s understandable why they’d walk away from him. He was only 11-8 with a 3.96 ERA in that final season in 2019. The timing just didn’t work out in the Mets’ favor or maybe the coaches at the time were unable to unlock his ace-potential.
3) NY Mets let free agent John Olerud walk away in his prime
This is a bit different. With John Olerud, he wanted to go back to his home state of Washington. The Seattle native would sign with the Seattle Mariners after the 1999 season. One of the league’s more underrated offensive and defensive players in the 1990s, he was a huge part of the success in Queens for his three seasons.
Olerud slashed .315/.425/.501 while in blue and orange. His .354 batting average from the 1998 campaign is still a team record. The 125 walks he drew in 1999 also remains unmatched.
It may have been impossible for the Mets to convince Olerud to stay because location mattered to him in free agency. Unless they were able to somehow get insight his head and implant false memories like Blade Runner or some other science fiction movie, it was never going to happen.
Olerud continued to produce for several more seasons on the Mariners roster. He put up similar numbers there. He’d also win three Gold Gloves.
Todd Zeile was the first man to replace Olerud at first base. He was good, but not quite up to snuff. Somewhat ironic, Olerud ended up back in New York at the end of 2004 when he was traded to the New York Yankees. By then Mets fans had already suffered through Mo Vaughn and some other first basemen.
Having Olerud on the 2000 Mets wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the World Series. It doesn’t take away from the fact that he should’ve stayed. If only we had the technology to fool him into believing he was raised on Long Island.
Next. 5 Mets players best remembered for letting the team down. dark